


Open Your Eyes

by Azulet



Series: Friendships [4]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Bromance, Brotp, Character Death, Epic Friendship, Families of Choice, Friendship, Gen, Judy & Nick - Freeform, Male-Female Friendship, Nick & Judy - Freeform, Nick/Judy Friendship, Nicknames, Nightmares, No Romance, Not Really Character Death, POV Nick Wilde, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Police, Protective Judy, Sad with a Happy Ending, Unconventional Families, What time is it?, Why are you here?, Wildehopps Friendship, Worry, middle of the night, on the job, worried friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 22:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8464957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azulet/pseuds/Azulet
Summary: Nick and Judy are on the job when Judy gets shot (Spoilers from here) and dies in her friend's arms. But then, Nick wakes up. A dream. That's all it was. But still. He has to make sure that she's okay (even though it's one in the morning). And in case you're wondering, I AM NOT SHIPPING THEM. I think they are the most adorable best friends!





	

“Officer down! Officer down!”

Nick Wilde darted across the street, dodging behind parked cars, trying to get to the small figure lying on the pavement next to Greenway Fountain. The enormous hippo they had been chasing could tell that the police officers were busy, and took the moment to lumber away down the nearest alley. But Nick didn’t care. Judy was injured, and he had to get to her. He ran across the street, skidding to a stop and crouching down next to his partner.

“Carrots! Carrots, can you hear me?”

The rabbit was on her side, but she turned her head towards the sound of his voice. Her eyes were glassy with tears.

“Nick?”

“Yeah,” he said, trying to sound calm even though his heart was about to burst out of his chest, “Yeah, I’m here, carrots.” Her small smile was interrupted by a moan of pain. “It hurts, Nick, it really hurts.”

“Where did he hit you?”

“Shoulder, I think.”

Gently, hoping not to cause any more damage, Nick rolled the bunny onto her back. The wound was tiny, but _god_ , there was a lot of blood. Nick’s breath came out in a huff. Just looking at it made it feel like he had been sucker-punched in the gut, he couldn’t – didn’t want to – imagine the pain. “That’s…that’s a lot of blood, carrots.”

“What, scared of a little blood?” she joked, but they could both hear the underlying tension, because he _was_ scared, and it was more than a little. Nick carefully scooped the bunny up, trying not to feel the warm blood seeping into his fur.

“Nick…”

“Yeah?”

“Nick, I can’t feel anything.”

Looking down at the limp grey form in his arms, the fox realized that Judy’s eyes were closed. _No no no_.  “C’mon, sweetheart, stay with me. Stay with me!” But the body in his arms was limp. Dead weight.

“No! Wake up!”

Something wet – tears – trickled down his cheeks. “Wake up, carrots, wake up!”

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick sat bolt upright, clutching at his sheets. His heartbeat thrummed in his ears. _It was a dream. A bad dream, that’s all._

But still.

He pulled back the sheets, swinging his legs off the mattress. His phone was sitting on the rusted metal chair that served as side table. _I really need a new place._ Now that he was legitimate, a cop, he could get a nice apartment, in a respectable part of town, without any questions about his formerly-suspicious behavior.

Grabbing the phone, which read _1:18 AM_ , Nick typed in his passcode and opened the call app. Judy was at the top of list – not surprising, as he only had a grand total of eleven people in his contacts. His paw tapped erratically against his thigh as the dialing icon went through its rounds. After a minute or so, he was sent to videomail. Nick hung up, trying to rationalize. She was probably asleep, like any reasonable rabbit, and hadn’t heard the phone ringing.

But still.

_What are you, her mom?_ Nick chided himself, _She’s fine. It was just a nightmare. You’re being ridiculous._ Nick tapped the off button on his phone and rolled back into bed, deciding that he would call Judy first thing tomorrow morning, before work. But after a half hour of tossing and turning, trying (and failing) to convince himself that everything was fine, the fox had to admit that he wouldn’t be able to sleep until he saw that his partner was safe.

Sighing, Nick clambered out of bed, pulling on shorts and a tee shirt, glad of his night vision.  He scooped up his keyring and opened the door, wishing it didn’t creak quite so much. The hallway had no lights, but once he got outside, the moon and accompanying stars provide enough light so that, even if he couldn’t see in the dark, he would have been able to find the rust-bucket that passed as his car. Nick hopped in, started the engine (after a few tries), and pulled onto the street.

Judy’s apartment was close to the police station, Nick had gone over after work a couple times, and he remembered the route well enough not to get lost. Within a few minutes, he was there.

He finally arrived outside her door, after a quick trip on the elevator, and only then remembered that it was 1:30 in the morning and _what the heck are you doing, you dumb fox_? But he was here, so he could at least help himself to some blueberries.

He opened the door (it was unlocked, of course), and, despite the allure of blueberries, went straight to Judy’s room.

The rabbit was curled up under a carrot-patterned blanket, velvety ears flopped on her pillow, face unusually calm. _See, she’s fine. There was ABSOLUTLY NO REASON to come into her apartment in the middle of the NIGHT._ Nick rolled his eyes, turning to go, and promptly tripping over his own feet, causing him to face-plant in the carpet. This had the double effect of making him feel like an idiot and waking up a certain Judy Hopps.

“Mh? Waz goin on?” Then, as she flicked on the light, “ _Nick?_ ”

_I wonder if it’s possible to just stay here. Would she notice if I don’t move?_ After deciding that this probably wouldn’t work, Nick pushed himself up, wincing at the throbbing pain in his head. _That’ll definitely leave a bruise._

“What – why – did you –are you – what are you doing here? What time is time? Were you watching me? What the heck is going on?” Judy was now sitting upright, a mixture of confusion, anger, and worry on her face. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“Woah, slow down, fluff, I ain’t that fast.” Nick stalled, “Do you have a chair? I hit my head pretty hard.”

“Oh. Oh, of course, sorry!” Judy hopped down from the bed, seeming not to care that she was wearing nothing but underwear and a shabby tee-shirt. She scampered out of the room, guiding Nick to the sofa, and sitting down sideways so she could look at him. “So. What’s this about?”

“Uhh…..blueberries?” he said hopefully. The bunny’s only response was to raise one eyebrow skeptically, showing that she wasn’t going to fall for it. “I forgot my coat?” Still no response. “Aw, c’mon, carrots,” he started, but before he could make up another lie, Judy butted in, “Don’t _carrots_ me. You’re the one who showed up in my apartment in the middle of the night.”

Nick didn’t respond, just stared down at his paws, which were fiddling with the hem of his shirt. _Whywhywhy_ did he do this? What possessed him to come here in the middle of the night?

But still.

The dream had been so realistic, he had been convinced that Judy, his carrots, was gone. And when he woke up, all alone, there was nothing to tell him that it wasn’t real, nothing to tell him that she was okay. Even Nick had to care about someone.

Judy seemed to sense the change of mood and asked, much more serious, “What’s wrong, Nick? You can tell me.”

“Promise you won’t laugh?”

“Promise.”

Nick sighed, still not making eye contact. “I had a dream.” Silence. “About us. We were out, chasing some…thug, and…” A small, grey paw entered his field of vision, resting lightly on his own paw. “And he shot you. And you were...you died, Judy, you died.”

Nothing for a moment, then, “Oh. Oh Nick, I didn’t know. I’m sorry. You must have been so...”

“Relieved?” Nick instantly slipped back into his usual joking, don’t-care mannerisms. “Yeah, I was. Finally, not to have you nagging me every day about paper work and –” Before he could finish his sentence, he was pushed backwards. Judy had bowled him over with hug, and was doing her upmost to squeeze the air from his lungs. Nick leaned back against the couch’s armrest, stroking Judy’s head. “Hey, what’s wrong, fluff?” The reply was too muffled to be understood. “Carrots, I’m very sorry to tell you, but I don’t speak mumble.”

“I said,” Judy repeated, violet eyes narrowed, “How _dare_ you worry about me. _I’m_ the emotional one. You’re supposed to be all aloof and snarky.” Nick laughed, “Sorry, carrots, couldn’t help myself.” He tried to get up, but the rabbit was still pining him down.

“Oh no you don’t,” she said, “It’s two in the morning. And besides, this way you can keep an eye on me.”

And they may or may not have fallen asleep together on the couch. And Judy may or may not have used an ice cube to wake him. And Nike may or may not have forgotten his uniform, so he may or may not have been ten minutes late to work because he had to pick it up.

(Because he needed to know that his best friend was safe.)

Maybe.


End file.
